This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), provides $175,000 to the La Jolla Institute for Immunology to explore the mechanisms and cell types that drive sensitization to the Alternaria fungus and the development of asthma. The key objectives are to: 1) Determine the association between Alternaria-specific T cells with a protective interferon response gene...
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a $586,250 Project Grant (CFDA 93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research) to the University of Massachusetts Medical School to support research on the generation and regulation of TFH13 cells that drive pathogenic IgE in allergy. The overarching goal is to elucidate the pathways leading to TFH13 cell differentiation, which are specifically generated in allergic disease states and are required for the production...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), will support research to investigate the role of TGF-beta signaling in the regulation of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells and mast cells, and how this impacts the development of allergic diseases. The $162,000 award to the Trustees of Indiana University will fund a multi-year project (Jun 2025 - May 2027) studying Tfh and mast...
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded a $300,000 Project Grant under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to Cellergy Pharma Inc. in Wilmington, Delaware. The purpose of this 2-year project grant, with a start date of February 1, 2025, is to develop an innovative bispecific antibody therapy that can efficiently and specifically eliminate IgE-producing B cells, with the goal of achieving complete and durable suppression of...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), provides $320,863 to Aaiit LLC (DBA: Inflammation Immuno Therapy) for the development of a bifunctional IgE antagonist and dissociator (ANDI) therapeutic to treat severe allergic asthma. The key goals of the project are to humanize the ANDI nanobody, evaluate its long-term tolerability, and assess its efficacy in an...
This federal Project Grant award of $202,314 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) will support a 5-year research program to investigate the mechanisms of increased intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) barrier permeability in peanut allergy. The research will utilize a novel mouse model and primary human intestinal cell cultures to examine how alterations in the gut microbiome and IEC...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) provides $417,984 to the Scripps Research Institute to support a research project focused on the study of FOXP3 and regulatory T cell fate. The key objectives of the project are to: Identify the biomolecular target and mechanism of action for the small molecule A205804 in inducing functional CD4+ regulatory T cell differentiation...
The federal Project Grant award of $597,542 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) will support research at Emory University to investigate the metabolic and epigenetic regulation of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the skin. The research aims to dissect the specific metabolic program governing the homeostasis of skin Tregs and elucidate how this metabolic adaptation impacts the...
This is a $347,608 Project Grant awarded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837), to Biotherapeutics, Inc., an emerging biotechnology company in Blacksburg, Virginia. The grant supports the development of a novel, oral, once-daily immunoregulatory therapeutic for the treatment of asthma. The key objectives are to: Characterize the therapeutic efficacy and route of administration of the novel drug candidate in...
This federal Project Grant award of $350,000 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), aims to develop polymer-derived biomaterials for messenger RNA (mRNA) delivery to induce antigen-specific immune tolerance. The award supports research to evaluate diverse nanocarrier formulations encapsulating antigens and mRNAs encoding tolerogenic proteins, investigate the biodistribution and...
METABOLOMICS OF FOOD ALLERGEN IMMUNOTHERAPY - PROJECT SUMMARY RATES OF POTENTIALLY LIFE-THREATENING IGE MEDIATED FOOD ALLERGY CONTINUE TO RISE, AND THERAPEUTIC OPTIONS ARE LIMITED. UNDERSTANDING HOW TO ALTER IMMUNE TOLERANCE IN PATIENTS WITH FOOD ALLERGY IS PARAMOUNT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW THERAPIES. TWO TYPES OF FOOD ALLERGEN IMMUNOTHERAPY, ORAL IMMUNOTHERAPY (OIT) AND SUBLINGUAL IMMUNOTHERAPY (SLIT), RELY ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRADUALLY INCREASING AMOUNTS OF ALLERGEN TO INDUCE TOLERANCE. FOR SOME CHILDREN, THESE THERAPIES CAN INDUCE A STATE DESCRIBED AS REMISSION, WHERE THE PROTECTION AGAINST ALLERGIC REACTIONS LASTS WEEKS TO MONTHS AFTER STOPPING THERAPY. WHILE CURRENT RESEARCH HAS FOCUSED ON THE ADAPTIVE IMMUNE RESPONSES TO IMMUNOTHERAPY, THE IMMUNOLOGIC MILIEU NECESSARY FOR THESE RESPONSES IS NOT KNOWN. USING METABOLOMIC PROFILING, THE LARGE-SCALE QUANTIFICATION OF METABOLITES BY MASS- SPECTROMETRY, WE IDENTIFIED 3 MAJOR PATHWAYS (BILE ACIDS, ARACHIDONIC ACIDS, AND HISTIDINE METABOLITES) WITH KNOWN ROLES IN MODULATING T CELL BIOLOGY THAT DIFFERENTIATE CHILDREN WHO DEVELOP REMISSION VERSUS THOSE WHO DO NOT. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DETERMINE THE ROLE THAT IMMUNOMODULATORY METABOLITES PLAY IN THE REMISSION OF FOOD ALLERGIES INDUCED BY IMMUNOTHERAPY. IN AIM 1, WE WILL VALIDATE THE PRESENCE OF PROTECTIVE METABOLOMIC SIGNATURES OF BILE ACIDS, ARACHIDONIC ACIDS, AND HISTIDINE PATHWAYS IN REMISSION USING SAMPLES FROM AN INTERVENTIONAL TRIAL OF OIT IN YOUNG CHILDREN. WE WILL THEN ASSESS HOW THESE METABOLITES CHANGE WITH IMMUNE BIOMARKERS OF REMISSION (SEROLOGY, BASOPHIL REACTIVITY, AND T CELL CYTOKINES). WHILE THERE ARE MANY SIMILARITIES IN THE MECHANISMS OF OIT AND SLIT, THERE IS GROWING EVIDENCE FOR DIFFERENCES IN THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF REMISSION INDUCED BY THESE TWO TYPES OF IMMUNOTHERAPY. BASED ON THIS, WE WILL STUDY THE IMMUNOMETABOLISM OF REMISSION IN SLIT IN AIM 2. USING SAMPLES FROM AN INTERVENTIONAL TRIAL OF SLIT, WE WILL CHARACTERIZE THE PRESENCE OF THESE THREE IMMUNOMODULATORY METABOLITE PATHWAYS IN REMISSION AND ASSESS HOW THESE PATHWAYS RELATE TO IMMUNE BIOMARKERS OF REMISSION. FINALLY, WE WILL COMPARE THE METABOLOMIC PROFILES OF SLIT AND OIT TO IDENTIFY SHARED AND DISPARATE PATHWAYS BETWEEN THE TWO TYPES OF THERAPY. WE ANTICIPATE THAT THIS WORK WILL IDENTIFY MECHANISMS OF ALLERGIC TOLERANCE IN IMMUNOTHERAPY AND INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW THERAPIES.